Beyond Mullahs and Marxists

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: “During my travels I found young Muslims vigorously debating the ‘challenges’ facing India’s 170-million-strong Muslim community, and what it should do to haul itself out of the hole it is in.” A scene during Partition.

The notion that a practising Muslim cannot be liberal has become conventional wisdom, but over the past decade it has all changed, writes Hasan Suroor in his new book, India’s Muslim Spring. Excerpts from the book

A Hindu friend once told me, even as he profusely apologized for his bluntness, that there was only one kind of Muslim — the fundamentalist kind. The idea of a ‘liberal Muslim’ was a ‘misnomer’ according to him. Such a person was first and foremost a liberal who also happened to be a Muslim because of the sheer accident of having been born in a Muslim family.

‘Their liberalism doesn’t derive from Islam. It has nothing to do with their being Muslims. They are liberals despite being Muslims and not because they are Muslims. I have yet to meet a devout Muslim who doesn’t have fundamentalist views. And mind you, I’m 70 plus and have known at least three generations of Muslims,’ he said.

The notion that a practising Muslim cannot be liberal has become conventional wisdom. And, to be honest, I have often found myself broadly agreeing with this view. Working in Delhi as a journalist until the late 1990s, I had a hard time finding sane, liberal voices, even in educated Muslim circles, on issues such as free speech, Muslim personal law, women’s rights, and secularism. There were either the agnostic/atheist, mostly left-wing secular Muslims who felt almost embarrassed to be defined by their religious identity, or there were ‘mainstream’ devout Muslims — defensive, insular, intolerant and deeply suspicious of their secular peers contemptuously dismissing them either as communists or government stooges.

There is no doubt that all faith groups are divided along liberal/fundamentalist lines (Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have their own share of fundamentalist ‘mullahs’) but the divide among Muslims was particularly stark. It was as if these were not two sections of the same community but two separate communities with parallel and irreconcilable world views. The future looked bleak and, like many of my generation, I had written off any possibility of a change in the Muslim mindset in my lifetime.

But over the past decade it has all changed. Now, there is a world beyond mullahs and Marxists, and the notion of a liberal Muslim does not sound so alien any more. It is amazing how much the Muslim mood has changed in recent years. Alas, my friend who had never known a practising liberal Muslim is no more. I’m sure he would have been as pleased as I am to have been proved wrong in assuming that Muslims were beyond change. He would have enjoyed meeting the likes of Aqeel Ahmed, Meher Rahman, Nasir Zaidi, Saba Bashir, Arif Ahmed — to name just a few of the numerous young, educated and progressive Muslims I came across in the course of writing this book — who see no contradiction between religiosity and secularism, and whose faith in Islam does not stop them from being secular Indians. Many don’t like the ‘minority’ tag which, they say, suggests as though they are on the fringes of Indian mainstream.

I routinely hear people lament that the Muslim mindset is still stuck in the 1980s and 1990s, mired in self-pity and a corrosive sense of victimhood with no room for introspection or debate. Apart from being extremely patronizing, such a view is lazy stereotyping of a whole community, and betrays a huge amount of ignorance and prejudice. For the reality is quite different.

During my travels I found young Muslims vigorously debating the ‘challenges’ facing India’s 170-million-strong Muslim community, and what it should do to haul itself out of the hole it is in. What particularly struck me was their courage to acknowledge what previous generations had doggedly refused to — namely, the community’s own role in its destruction. For the first time there is a willingness to face up to the fact that many of the wounds the Muslims suffered, and for which they blamed others, were actually self-inflicted.

‘Suicidal’ is how young Muslims describe the tactics of successive post-partition generations. They believe they have been handed a legacy that speaks of their elders’ profound failure to produce an enlightened and credible leadership. And they are angry.

‘Muslims are architects of their own misery,’ said Aamir Shahzad, a religiously devout postgraduate history student of Lucknow University, with barely suppressed fury. ‘I hate to say it but my father and grandfather’s generations have failed us. Their priorities have been wrong and we are paying for their mistakes. They allowed mullahs to become our spokesmen. And look where we are today.’

As an illustration of wrong priorities, many cite the fight that the community picked up over Babri Masjid. ‘I am not saying that it was not an important issue but if we had made the same sort of noise over discrimination that Muslims face in everyday life, and in demanding good education and jobs, it would have made more sense,’ argued Meraj Haider who runs a successful real-estate business in central U.P.

‘Challenge’ and ‘priorities’ were two terms I heard frequently in my interactions with the Muslim youth. The community, I was told, must get out of its siege mentality; stop seeing enemies everywhere and start on a new slate. There is a deep generational divide, especially in the 18-25 age group. They believe that their parents’ generation had been too ‘defensive’ about its Muslim identity and, for all its apparent secularism, tended to see India essentially as a ‘Hindu’ country and Muslims as a persecuted minority. Its perception of its Muslim identity was ‘too negative’, according to them.

I have some sympathy with this view though the theory, especially popular in the academia, that Muslims have always suffered from a deep existential ‘identity crisis’ as to who they were — ‘Muslims first or Indians first’ (an agonized debate on this has raged for as long as I can remember) is vastly exaggerated, as I’ve argued in another chapter.

The identity issue has its roots in Partition. Not many Muslims will acknowledge this but let’s be honest: it is a myth that every Muslim who chose to stay back in India was prompted by a sense of nationalism or was against the idea of Pakistan. Many stayed back simply because they found the sheer logistics of migration too daunting; others held back because of the fear of taking the plunge into an unknown and uncertain future; some tested the waters and decided that it was safer to hang back; and, indeed, quite a few — including some progressive Muslims — actually moved to Pakistan and returned when they discovered that it was not the promised land it was cracked up to be.

So the post-partition generation struggled with a massive historical baggage that, among other things, made it deeply conscious of its identity and its place in a Hindu-majority India — an ‘infection’ that it passed on to successive generations. Muslims from that generation admit to suffering a ‘Muslim complex’, as some put it. But they attribute it to the political climate of the time.

‘We were a product of our time. There was a climate of suspicion of Muslims because of Partition, and so on. There were communal riots every now and then, Urdu was being crushed because they said it was the language of Muslims…it was not easy to forget that you were a Muslim,’ said Ahmed Qadri, who ran a library of Urdu books and journals in Old Delhi in the 1960s. He was forced to close down the library as Urdu publications and their readers declined, leaving him with few books to lend and even fewer customers to lend to.

‘What happened to me happened because I was a Muslim…so how could I not be conscious of being a Muslim?’ he asked.

Muslims of his generation say that the Hindu Right made it impossible for them to forget their minority status. They were regarded as ‘lower orders who should know their place’.

For the younger generation of Muslims, on the other hand, Partition has no special resonance. It is something they read about in history books and feel no need to ‘obsess about’, as one young Muslim woman put it. Nor do they feel any special affinity towards Pakistan, which, if anything, they regard as a failed state — and an embarrassment. All this makes them less conflicted about their identity and minority status. They see themselves as any other Indian citizen except that they happen to be Muslims. They argue that Muslims are not the only minority group in India and there is no reason why they should put themselves in a special box.

But here’s the paradox. Precisely because they don’t suffer from the sort of identity crisis their parents did, they feel less inhibited about flaunting their ‘Muslim-ness’. That explains the proliferation of beards and hijabs; and the rush to the masjid, a growing global trend among young Muslims. But they insist that this assertion of their ‘Islamic identity’ does not diminish their Indian-ness, which is what ultimately defines them. Allama Iqbal wrote, ‘Hindi hain hum watan hai, Hindustan hamara.’ And that pretty much sums up the modern Indian Muslim. Damn the beard.

I wonder why muslims feel insecure under the hindu majority. Whereas no other minority religions like jain, buddhism, parsi, christian does! Is it because they would themselves rule over minority people if they were in majority??

from:
Saurav Kumar

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 17:53 IST

I am from a community that definitely is much less in numbers than 170 million. No one calls us minority. We belong to the so called forward caste groups. I faced discrimination in my life too. Fact is, in a group of 10, 8 people will always be discriminated against. One or two of them may be Muslims or belong to SC/ST's. Of the other 2, one of them will surely be less deserving than the other 8 but they are favored. That's life. Get over it. No need to cry hoarse about you being discriminated because you belong to some so called minority group.

from:
Krishna

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 17:11 IST

Thanks for The Hindu and Mr Suroor for the excerpt. I think that several concepts like fundamentalism, liberty, secularism etcâ¦ have intricate Indian dimensions. The excerpt implicitly draws conclusions between its lines that majority of post-independence Muslims are: conservative or fundamentalists, under control of its mullahs, true Muslims never be liberal as per their belief, Muslims are responsible for their own retreat whereas the young generation is apologetic of their forefathers' mistakes, liberal and dynamic. I can't buy all these junks at once as I dig into the community history which span over several centuries Actually, the backwardness is not special to Muslims alone in India if one look social conditions of other communities like Daliths, Adivasis and Scheduled Casts and Tribes etc.. in post independence era of India. Indian Muslims' identity has been shaped from hard social realities of time: phobia among them after partition, lack of education, poverty and absence of enough dynamic leadership because leaders were strewn in different political parties which couldn't prioritize only Muslim affairs whereas in the case of others, it was mainly the working of cast system. Though constitution dictates clear directions, remnants of the cast system are still apparent in our society in all its forms. What we need for our dear India now is not a veiled liberal, secularist fault-finding, superior/inferior grading or degrading and differentiating proclamation to reinforce negative perceptions but the integrity of mindset that seriously understands each communities in its historical habitat, and strive for compensating its shortcomings, endeavors to deliver equal rights, equal opportunity to share resources and march for the progress of the nation. What we need is the depth and breadth of mind to show more leniencies to weaker or exploited sections of our society.

from:
mkodan

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 14:33 IST

Bernard Shaw told "If Prophet Mohammad(PbUH) is alive he would solve all the problems of this time easily"
The Criminal laws of Muslims are admired by all the solution based thinkers around the world Harward university was about to put a Statue of Mohammed (PbUH) as a symbol for justice (but stopped latter since it is not allowed by GOD) LK Advani wants strict laws like that present in Arab countries to deal with all the Indian problems.(rapes, prostitution, murders, female foeticides, burglary etc)
Islam does also has the special status for the non muslims and appropriate laws are there.
Now the personal laws should be different as per their belief so why bring this uniform code issue at all.

from:
Abdul Kader

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 14:22 IST

Even though Indian Muslims dare to come out with their religious identity the perception of most non-muslims still remain same. as seeing Muslims as second class citizen and thinks that they do not deserve full rights as other people of India. We talk about the personal law for muslims. In no way it affects the non muslims. (every where the enforcement has issues, we should focus on enforcement)
Bhurqas are just a choice of dressing, I don't understand if every indian should wear western dresses then only you would accept it as civilized. (you forget about the objectification of women by the name of modern and western dresses)
Islam stands for civilized tolerant society considering the weakness of men and women and also considering the Gray area inside the society ( there is no such fully educated ideal society in the world exist in US one in five women sexually harassed according to recent survey)

from:
Abdul Kader

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 14:08 IST

I am totally in agreement with the author when he speaks about the change in dynamics of the modern Indian Muslim, up until the last paragraph, where he says that the assertion of their Muslim-ness somehow comes at the cost of their Indian-ness. Why should the assertion of their Islamic identity in any which way as they please result in a dilution of the so called Indian-ness on their part? This assertion and the reason supplied by the author is in stark contrast to the discourse that started in the opening paragraphs. An intrinsic part of being Indian should be the unfettered right to practice my religion subject to constitutional restrictions. This holds true if I am visiting the temple, the church or the mosque. Therefore the reasoning of the author that this assertion of religious identity comes 'at a cost' runs counter to the intent behind writing this article.

from:
Abhi

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 11:42 IST

I believe its not muslims or Hindus or Sikhs or whosoever creates riots. Riots are always created by some anti-social people.

I have muslims friends and they all believe in peace.

from:
Pooja Kuntal

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 09:09 IST

Even the persons who tend commit suicide leave notes behind blaming others for their acts and their miseries! Healthy identity is about life and not about death. Unfortunately the Muslims in India have tremendous capacity to make themselves miserable at times. If they could just connect with the future of India and disconnect with the past, the negative baggage of the historical identity they tend to carry along shall disappear soon. In any democratic society, a minority is very powerful entity, it can always change sides and let the folks in power fall in a split second. It is in this power game they have to learn to participate and preserve their interests in both long term and in short term basis. Societies and cultures change on their own pace and I am sure Islamic societies will not remain stagnant in the future. India is not a perfect society, so is Pakistan or any other Islamic society and Muslim countries. The challenge is to build upon your strengths and Ind-muslims have many

from:
Rakesh Kapila

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 08:28 IST

The need of the hour, more than ever, is unity irrespective of religious affiliation. Religion is strictly for spiritual advancement. If Indians can unite in a true sense of fraternity, no power on earth can stop India from progressing into a gloriously developed nation.

from:
Krish

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 01:39 IST

I'm a devout Hindu, and that doesn't necessarily make me less secular. I've never allowed the religious onuses to take their toll on my economic prosperity and development. In the spheres of social lives of Muslims what has not been adequately acknowledged is the need of disallowing rigorous fundamentalism to obstruct education and progress. Failing to realize that the sanctity of faith and human blossoming through the means of knowledge and love can go hand in hand has held the community back in India as a whole. Although there has been an incessant and a heated debate over the notion of Muslims' evolution and Yet-Rigid religious paradigms of Muslims, to which extent Hindus ensure encouragement by not labeling all the Muslims of the country as fundamentalists has been missed out invariably. If Muslims are to embrace secularism, then Hindus of India have a huge role to play.

from:
saksham mittal

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 00:24 IST

The Indian Muslim community must fully integrate themselves into the mainstream. They must keep Indian names like Christians and take pride in their Indian past, rather than treating Babur and other invaders as their heroes. The first step should be rejection of Muslim personal law.Why do they need to maintain their distinct identity in terms of attire and language? I do not see any reason in having Arabic language in the curriculum of Madrasas. Qur'an and other religious texts can be taught in Indian languages.

from:
Shakti Singh

Posted on: Feb 3, 2014 at 00:02 IST

A very forward looking article indeed. The more religion stays as a private affair and social issues like women's rights, unemployment, innovations at grass-root level,poverty gain prominence in the public milieu and in youth discourse, the better it is for India, its people and the world at large.

from:
Siddhi Bangard

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 23:56 IST

Partition has created a very negative effect not only on Indian Muslims but on the entire sub-continent. Imagine beauty of un-divided India. Even though India is a beautiful country with heterogeneous society but the political forces have created a rift between these two communities. Whom to blame? No one except ourselves.

from:
Aftab Khan

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 20:16 IST

Therefore even if one agrees with Core Idea in these excerpts of the Book by Hasan Saroor,his CAUSAL analysis that puts entire burden of their backwardness on the Muslim Community alone without taking in to account historical chain of cause&effect in India is FLAWED in more ways than one!
He mentions about a Urdu Librarians case in the passing,who mentions -What happened to me happened because I was a Muslimâ¦so how could I not be conscious of being a Muslim?-without stating whether he has sympathy for such factual observations of older generation of Indian Muslims.Has Hasan Saroor even considered going through SACHAR COMMITTEEs report while airing his opinions as GOSPEL TRUTHS?
I personally a Manager by Profession who worked for a Defence PSU for thirty five years can VOUCH for the kind of PASSIVE&ACTIVE DISCRIMINATION Minorities&SC/STs have to face at each level that leaves them with immense feelings of alienation.Sermonising I must say is easy especially for NRIs FROM ivory Towers!

from:
Shahabuddin Nadeem

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 18:31 IST

As far as these excerpts go they seem to be generalising-analysis- for Muslims on a Pan-India basis both from a historical perspective as well as from current situation. The author forgets that Muslim League driven movement for Pakistan was primarily a North Indian phenomenon and practically whole of South Indian was not in to it and even Partition Riots were confined only to North West,North&East India(Bengal)&South was practically free from the inhuman barbarism that left indelible wounds on Collective Psyche of Hindus&Muslims mainly in North India that started Communal Segregation& Ghettoisation of Muslims there.

One needs to contrast this with by& large Inter Mixed areas especially in Rural South India that continue to exist even today! However,post independence Southern Urban Centers also had Muslims segregating in ghettos as frequent Right Wing extremist orchestrated communal riots mainly in North/Western states created fear through a domino effect in South India too.

from:
Shahabuddin Nadeem

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 18:30 IST

It is an undisputed fact that to be a fundamentalist or a liberal or a fanatic is one's own outlook and has least to do with one's religious identity; and the day all our fellow citizens understand this, Indian will be 'secular' in its truest sense ........

from:
UJJWAL

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 18:27 IST

The author seems to be justifying the trend of the beards and hijabs among the Muslim youth today,The liberal Muslim must try to get rid of all public exhibition of the religious identity. This can create a better and harmonious atmosphere.The Brahmins have done away with their public identity many decades back. Todasy in Kerala, you can see even small boys and girls going to schools/KG in their religous attire. When I was in school in the fifties, every child appeared the same.This new trend is very dangerous for our country.Hope the author will change his view.

from:
P N V Krishnan

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 17:18 IST

I recently remarked to my Muslim co-worker, who is quite modern and religious too and holds India' secularism in high esteem , that Iran became a religious state under Ayatollah Khomeini which is quite deplorable.He response was " What is wrong with that? Iran has a Muslim majority, so why can't it become a religious state" ?

from:
Aseem

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 15:41 IST

The new generation of Muslim youth has bridged the gap between so-called 'fundamentalist' Islam and the liberal. The upcoming trend promises of a new future of homogenization of different groups inside Islam itself. The problem arises is when the fundamentalist sect seem to or let to be the spokespersons of the whole community. The growth of the new generation is hopeful of bridging this dichotomy.

from:
Yoonus K

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 15:26 IST

Hasan Suroor's article is a good read. But not all his points are agreeable. His remark that 'it is a myth that every Muslim who chose to stay back in India was prompted by a sense of nationalism or was against the idea of Pakistan. Many stayed back simply because they found the sheer logistics of migration too daunting; others held back because of the fear of taking the plunge into an unknown and uncertain future' can only be taken as his personal opinion. My parents and Muslims who lived during partition did not even think of leaving this land because they had the sense of belonging and till today, Muslims at large have the same feeling.

from:
Samshath

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 13:12 IST

Most of the Muslims when they address any issue(s) like politics, economics, or so, tries to balance the views of modern trends and Islam, as far as modern trends are concerned its known as it is taught at schools, problem comes once they project their own ideas as "Islamic", the fact is that this class of muslims either does not know about the teachings about this particular subject in the Quran or in Hadiths (Prophet sayings) or they least know about it which is not enough for justification or it is quite possible they
may know the Islamic solution to the issue but afraid of the comments they may face after its revelation.

the fact of poverty of the Indian Muslims is not because of "Islam"
or its practice, instead ignorance towards this divine system of life sent by the Creator for the humanity, for example, number of
verses in the Quran addresses poverty, which suggests Muslims to improve economy, lots of sayings of the Prophet directs to strengthen finances in balanced manner.

from:
snaz

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 12:50 IST

Kudos to Mr. Hassan & Thanks to The Hindu Editor for this inspirational article. We must in need of such Inspiration & foundation to fill the big gap in between this two communities to diminish hatred that filled by extremist with the help of corrupt politicians of both communities & for them initiating hatred is more easier only because of communication gap between us

if this gap diminish no one stop us in the world to be long lasting friends once again to fight against antisocial element like once we fought & proved to vacate the British Raj & bought the Indian-ness within.

Those who have experienced like me the valued relationship of other community as school & college friends / landlord / staff or neighbors will long last forever & these bond is more stronger than the bond within us.

We die for India we die for Indian-ness because we very proud to be indian no matter how far the corrupt politicians try hard to destroy us they more they try they more we grow our Indian-ness

from:
shahid Ahmed

Posted on: Feb 2, 2014 at 11:37 IST

as a young and practicing Muslim i totally agree with Mr. Suroor's view.
India is my country and i am as much Indian as anybody else.no religion has a copyright on her.my love for my country exists with the faith in my religion and they can never clash. while our ancestors did let us down but one cannot blame them entirely.the situation was precarious those days i believe.the present generation does not think along religious lines.they have their dreams and are busy achieving them.people with different faiths are interacting more with each other on social networking sites as well as in school, colleges,offices and shunning stereotypes.
indeed there are rogue elements in every religion and they keep on stoking the communal fire now and then but it does not evoke the same passion in today's youth.these evil forces will diminish with the passage of time and hopefully we will secure a far better future for our country!

from:
m alam

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 19:01 IST

Many accolades are flowing over this article (and one commentator already pointed out that there were very few comments by Muslim brothers) because now Hindus are feeling vindicated . Hindus have yet to reconcile to the fact that some invaders only took away some valuables. What they left behind has flourished into a beautiful aspect of our multicultural society which is beyond value. You cannot divide Takhtetaus or Kohinoor for general possession but you can share respect and understanding and it would grow . I hardly see a difference between a skull cap and a gandhi cap and as for the beard, please spare it the tag of MUSLIM. Every sadhu be tagged a Muslim.

from:
sunit

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 19:00 IST

I have come across our so called Minority Friends ( although all of are one but have adopted different beliefs over a period of time due to changes in social arena during various rulers) including Muslims, Sikhs & Christens, who are more helpful, kind hearted and have better humanity gestures than our main stream friends. It is only the circumstances under post partition arena; they have not been able to harness their true potential. It is high time for our society, the government, the non-adherence of vote bank politics (for their individual benefits, however as per latest poll trends all sections of society is voting) to bring all religions on common platform and by giving them reservations in all fronts for limited durations to bring them all in the main stream of economy and society.

from:
Mukesh

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 18:42 IST

I would like to thank Mr. Hasan Suroor, and The Hindu for this article. I would also like to direct my/this comment towards the comments (27 at the time of this writing) posted by your readers. Most - if not all, of the comments take a blind, condescending/patronizing attitude towards others (read non-Hindus), and ignore (willingly, I must write) the fundamentalism that they carry (speaking literally) about Hinduism (and being Hindu) within and about themselves. In and out of India, there are a billion of such individuals minus the 170 million mentioned in this article.

from:
Roy M. Ramavarapu

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 18:13 IST

That Islam is responsible for Poverty and illiteracy of Muslims is a idea that has little basis in Reality.Islam is as much responsible for its adherents' progress as Hinduism is for Hindus'.That like Turkey,Iran,Malaysia,Gulf nations are counted among relatively well off nations and have more literates than India indicates that religion has little to do with backwardness here and progress there.May be Muslim nations don't have a space program,that doesn't mean Muslims are illiterate. Muslims have traditionally been counted among the educated class in India and elsewhere. The representation of Muslims in Govt jobs has declined but it used to be high with Muslims forming a good portion of civil servants in British Raj.Someone talked about the suffering of minorities in Muslim lands,thats shameful but in recent times few other regions have seen unjust wars as M.E.Its bound to have some unintended effects.

from:
Shahid

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 18:00 IST

Well to have muslims like Mr Suroor in India is favourable for amicability between Hindus and muslims but its something like "a drop in ocean".I am most libral indivisual who had been in association with many well educated muslims for decades long.Learnt many a things about Islam and even did fasting during Ramazan with friends to experience the philosophy of world's second largest religion.Had enough conversations with Islamic clerics who were too polite and had great power of influencing and convincing but some where behind,there in various theories existed a distinctly sectarian tinge- the tinge of disapproval of all other religions and philosophic systems.I came to the conclusion that a socalled true muslim (not practicing)can never be secular for he/she is true to only what is written and taught by Quran and Hadith.According to that theology there is no place to be secular.Since we are human beings we have to learn living together with healthy compromises.Life goes on.

from:
romesh.sharma

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 17:58 IST

I being proud Hindu always feel that for me India comes first, and in that India protection of the rights of our minority brother and sisters have important place.I deeply love urdu shayari of Ghalib and others.I have great respect for the people's like Maulana Abul kalam Azad,APJ Kalam and Amir Khan and many others.But i think that they have become hostage to psuedo secular politics and wrong interpretation of our history.The new generation of Muslim community must take new path and do not commit the mistakes which their parents have committed.

from:
ALOK KUMAR

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 17:42 IST

A Gem of a Article!!!
Fundamentalism is nothing but sowing the seeds of hatred,apathy etc at a very tender age in a child which ultimately leads to bearing a prejudice opinion. As Mr.Hasan has rightly pointed about the Mullahs who invariably condition the minds of young Muslims in a destructive way. Such doctrines do harm mentally & physically. Irony is that this has been continuing for quite a time & no one has come forward to raise questions about it,even the majority of educated Muslims fall in their trap.
However, a ray of hope is seen as author has pointed out that young unfettered Muslims don't consider themselves so called Muslim-Savvy & rather believe in openness-it is indeed a matter of joy.
India can't progress vigorously if its all limbs don't work properly.Instead of seething with anger a new kind of approach can be adopted by Muslims who feel neglected,make yourself heard by putting your agendas & hosting national debate.
Change is inevitable.
Best Wishes from a Hindu.

from:
Ashish Kumar

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 17:32 IST

we are always seek the ever-time unanswered question,far beyond our calculation, but trying to forecast with hazing of aimless scribe.Partition and imperialism both are same side of coin. There is last 60 year story with Bangla and Pakistan headache for India.Bangladesh Exodus his population infiltration,shelter for North East insurgent platform and Pakistan always ups his rifle to Indian back and marring tactics of fake currency,terrorism, drug-smuggling,the culprit of Three and more wars. Lesser or sooner Pakistan one time try to use of Nuclear weapon against India, because his times-ever wish till-still. Muslims never free his Mullah and they are perpetual for his spoil,May I wrong that is true because Muslim are preserve form mullah, if they are not without mullah. We are always some time more blind as then sightless. we can do it more rational when we are applying our heart and mind but each and every with thousands gathering mischievous act and unholy appeal.

from:
jugal kishore sharma

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 17:31 IST

A quite accurate article on a very sensitive topic. Muslims have also become a part of the new India. Slowly, but steadily they are inching towards the mainstream Indian dialogue. The young Indian Muslims have now moved into the middle class, they are now economically stable and educated. Many of them have migrated to the Middle East for better jobs and this in turn has lifted their families back in India from poverty. They are slowly outgrowing historical feelings of victimhood and persecution. Their patriotism does not hinder their religion, as the pristine Islam is not based on hate or confrontation.

from:
Bharath

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 17:07 IST

I don't know about Hasan Suroor. But for me it is not a 'new' Muslim Spring. Because there is nothing 'New' in this. I'm not a fundamentalist, neither my father nor my grandfather. Of course, we are practicing Muslims. and I know many people like us around here, they all secular and liberal like any other Hindu or Christian in this area. They all have their own idea of religion, practice and politics, and they are not slaves of Mullas' intelligence.

from:
Muhammed Kunhi

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 15:51 IST

I fully agree and here are my reasons. I am a Hindu and had very exclusive, Hindu-istic views about Muslims (who lived in a tiny hamlet surrounded by really big Hindu villages) when I went to the primary school in that remote village in eastern UP in sixties. But thanks to my education and subsequent work exposure from India to foreign lands, I can now claim to be much more inclusive and understanding. Therefore, I have every reason to believe that a Muslim is also evolving in the same way riding the same waves of education, openness and exposure. In their journey, the Hindus have to be fully understanding of their minorities status in the country. I know that a lot has been debated against this logic. But to me it is an 'axiom': if a parent have four sons and one daughter in their home, will they not be extra sensitive to protect her from the over-weight masculinity in the home? Hindus have to graduate from passive tolerance to active understanding towards Muslims.

from:
Ramesh Singh

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 15:43 IST

A very good article and very thought-provoking indeed. Problem is that from the moment a Muslim child is able to read he or she is constantly bombarded with the teachings of the Koran, and the Arab history of Mohammed and Islam. Basically Muslims grow up feeling alienated from whichever society they're growing up in and only hark back to Arab and islamic history. Hence the concept of separatism is already ingrained in their minds. Lack of education and tunneled vision exacerbates the problems of these alienated Muslims and they are susceptible to acts of terrorism and crime.

from:
Vipul

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 15:14 IST

Some of my observations:

1. Very positive article on such a complex issue.It is pretty heart lifting that younger generation of Muslims are more open minded.

2. Indian Muslims are second largest population in the world and largest minority in India whereas other religious minorities (Sikhs,Buddhists,Christians,Jews and Parsis) constitute far less proportion to Indian population But they never have had any identity crisis.

3. Why only Muslim minorities find themselves separated from mainstream not in India only but other parts of the world also.

4. What about Hindu minorities in Muslim majority countries.But they are thriving in other countries.

5. Muslim fundamentalists had always dominated over the liberal ones. Look all over the world.

Hence,

During my travels I found young Muslims vigorously debating the âchallengesâ facing Indiaâs 170-million-strong Muslim community, and what it should do to haul itself out of the hole it is in.

Still they are thinking about 170 million strong muslim community...and in future It may happen that whole community will fight against the nationalism.(In the shadow of International Islamic movement). what Muslim demand in minority,never deliver in majority. why there are no muslim leader comes forward to promote the uniform civil law. They itself want to distant their one feet from the main stream of the society so that their demand should be fullfilled.

from:
kaushal

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 12:53 IST

Finally an article that does not blame the Hindus for the pitiable condition of the Muslims. All this while, I have read articles which talk about discrimination leading to ghettoization, etc. But never in my life have I encountered any Muslim at the receiving end of bias, in both rural and urban areas. Also, a lot of rich, educated Muslims went to Pakistan during partition. The Muslim community in India should wake up, realize its own follies and learn to assimilate with the mainstream culture. Only there is progress

from:
Ravi

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 12:06 IST

out of the 15 comments, I do not see any muslim endorsing this view !
The book "Apprenticed to Himalayan Master" by Sri M (Mumtaz Ali Khan should be read widely by muslims.

from:
b v rao

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 11:41 IST

One of the best written articles i came across. However, this new spring being talked about is due to economic growth of the country. And not everyone is party to it. Due to lack of education and opportunities, many still do not have the capability to think in a secular manner. It would make good sense if the leaders of the muslim community start advocating progress in muslims as their first priority.

from:
sachin kumar

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 10:51 IST

Well what shall I say ..it was as honest as it could be..
I would say yes times have changed. the younger gen is different from the older ones may be bcaz of exposure and education and the trust in democracy. but still they need to come out of their safe dwelling the so called 'ganj' and 'bads' and be a part of the mainstream India.

from:
r choubey

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 10:06 IST

The last para is pretty much what worries people of other religion.. why is it that it is only the Muslim youth that shows off its religion?

from:
Karthik

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 09:16 IST

Thanks to The Hindu daily for sensible writing with some unrequired comemnts. First thing is i have seen some younger Muslims condemn terrorist mentality especially Mubai Taj which is a positive note. Muslims in India are changing lot. They want their kid to growp like any other kid, better education(moving away from madarassas) planing better future for their kids. Where did auther lag is playing maryter role saying that because of Hindu rashtra kept Muslims to think that they are minorities. This is totally wrong. I have grown up with few Muslim calssmates and Hindu Rastra was never the discusion rather Bharat first. When Mullas in India started supporting Pakistan that devided Hindus and Muslims and this mindset become catalyst for growing insecurity among Hindus as a result Hindu rastra concept started growing. Yes elders failed us not as Muslim or Hindu but as Indian.

from:
Srinivas

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 09:06 IST

Hasan,

What you said is a dream for people like me.
I am sure that you have seen a change in the cultural atmosphere of some of the more literate Muslims - and usually these people are the more literate.... And more worldly wise.

However, when looks at the overall picture - it is embarrassment and fear that seems to drive this minority of liberal muslims(?).
The whole picture tells that semi literacy is very dominant in this community - and that holds them back.
Their vision is written into the Koran that we read - ' Everything that you need to know comes from the Koran'

And just in case anyone wants to blame the majority for this very important short coming, I would like to remind you that in all western countries this semi literacy has been a short coming in a very large majority of the Indian Muslim population.

I dare say that I have seen some diff though

from:
Bharat Patel

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 08:15 IST

Hasan Suroor's article comes as a whiff of fresh air on the problems being faced by Muslims in India. The world over, anyone professing Islam is considered as a fundamentalist. This is largely due to the role of Mullahs in indoctrinating the young Muslims in believing that Islam is the only true religion. This is further compounded by the Jihadist in misleading the young, impressionable Muslims into believing that their religion is under threat,and that the only way to protect their religion is by joining their movement.

Our politicians have also done precious little in bringing the Muslims into mainstream, as uneducated Muslims are conveniently used for vote bank politics.It is here I would like to compliment the Indian Muslims, who, barring a few, have not fallen prey to such propaganda.

I now see more and more qualified Muslims applying for jobs. Employers, who were earlier hesitant in recruiting them, are openly embracing them. This augurs well for India.

from:
K.S.Venkatachalam

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 08:12 IST

While Muslims in general want others to understand Islam, they seldom take the trouble understand to other religions

from:
DURAI

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 07:52 IST

If what the author claims is indeed true,then it is good for our country in general and Muslims in particular. Most of the people are waiting to see a time when we are free of communal tensions and this is fresh air in that direction.

from:
Jayarama Bhat

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 07:28 IST

nice analysis.Mindset still stuck in 80's...mired in selfpity ...allowing no room for self analysis and constructive debate.. This sums up to an extent the temperament.As a resident of beautiful township in southern India during 80's ,my neighbour was a devout Muslim We are Brahmins,our families were very close exchanging pleasantries on every festive occasion and helping each other.I met them in 2000 after a long time .Their ladies were wearing purdahs veils, my neighbour friend wore a cap, I found them loveable as they recognised me but their mind set had towards their own customs and faith had been altered
.To me it appeared they wore those purdahs and caps under some influence. the happenings in India and subsequent incidents had a strong influence.It is time to introspect and merge with the main stream

from:
TV Krishnan

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 07:05 IST

About time a book like this was written. It is good for India when the Muslim community develops like any other group in India. Minorities like the Parsis, the Christians (in Goa) have done very well with an enlightened attitude.

from:
Ashok S

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 05:11 IST

The debate is not whether one puts on a label of liberalism but whether it is ingrained in Muslim thought process. Syed Ahmed Khan,Maulana Azad,Zakir Hussain were as much Muslims yet liberal in their outreach. This is true face of Islam unfortunately besemeared by the narrow minded mullahism. Tolerance,egalitarianism and justice for all are the core teachings of Islam waiting to be exemplified in deeds rather than words by Muslims in India and rest of the world.

from:
saleem Mir

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 05:07 IST

The genesis of Muslim Identity goes far back than the partition. Why there is 'muslim separatists' in China, Phillpines,Thailand. Why Sudan was partitioned recently. What is happening in Nigeria. Forget about Muslim -NonMuslim scenario. What is happening in Syria. islam is a Global Religion as the adherents and promoters proudly loudly declare. Is there a conflict between Islam's global agenda and national agenda and aspirations of various countries mentioned above for example. What has happened to Hindus of Pakistan and Bangladesh. What about 500,000 Kashmiri natives thrown out of their ancestral land - Muslim Majority valley. Any serious approach to understanding the 'minority muslim mindset' cannot gloss over these real happenings. I am afraid if Suroor's book is upto it or not - not evident from the subject "THE HINDU' article.

from:
seshadri

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 03:42 IST

I am glad that the author has noticed there has been marked change in the Indian Muslim's perception, aspiration, attitude,and hence, in pursuits. Indeed, it's a very positive development which was long overdue. It does not matter much whether it is talked about or not. What is important is that such a development is taking place.

from:
Shahidur R Talukdar

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 03:24 IST

Until there is substantial policy change such as doing away with the sharia laws and the thousands of subsidies, combined with doing away with vote bank politics and participating across and changing the political spectrum (not just sticking to congress all the time), it is going to be status quo. It is a sad state of affairs I agree, and I hope the author's optimism for the future is well-placed.

from:
nikhil

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 02:37 IST

Though,I am not so young at the age of 57,I agree with your observations; my muslim identity has no clash with my concept of nationalism. My religion provides me the philosophical background of my worldly existence or for that matter of all the human beings, my nationalism inspires me to love my country and its fellow citizens to whom I owe a lot.There is no clash, whatsoever, between my religious and national identities, rather the two fulfill all my intellectual, emotional and spiritual requirements.A truly religious person will have nothing in his heart except love and sympathy, the moment hatred and suspicion creeps,it destroys the religion.I am a proud Indian and at the same time a proud Muslim. Politicians and the So-called mullahs, sadhus and fathers are the main culprits. I believe, the young India will confront them successfully and will not carry the misconceived prejudices of our generation.

from:
Dr.Tanwirul Haque

Posted on: Feb 1, 2014 at 02:31 IST

If this change in mindset in the Muslims of younger generation is indeed true as per the author, it is a welcome sign!